Seles has hurt knee, or is it her arm, shins?Monica Seles...

Sports briefly

June 23, 1991

Seles has hurt knee, or is it her arm, shins?

Monica Seles, the top seed who withdrew from the Wimbledon championship Friday after what was described only as a minor accident, has undergone medical tests in Vail, Colo., the Denver Post reported yesterday. And, according to a Yugoslav newspaper, Seles has a knee injury.

Vail sources said Seles, a 17-year-old native Yugoslav now living in Florida, had gone to Vail at the recommendation of defending Wimbledon champ Martina Navratilova, who has a house in nearby Aspen and was herself treated for sports-related injuries by Dr. Richard Steadman, a noted knee surgeon. Steadman's associate, Dr. Scott Sledge, said he could not comment on Seles' condition.

Wimbledon officials have said they asked Seles' agent for more information about the injury but were told she was not prepared to give any more details. However, Seles is quoted in a Yugoslav newspaper as saying: "I felt a big pain in my knee during an intensive training session. I can barely walk right now. I feel terrible. . . . I don't care about missing the chance of a Grand Slam win. It's just that every Wimbledon is something special, and I feel bad about not taking part."

Another Yugoslav newspaper, however, quoted Seles as saying she had "stupidly injured her arm while training." In addition, since the start of the 1991 season, Seles has been suffering from shin splints, and she was treated recently for tendinitis in Paris, where she successfully defended her French Open title.

* Goran Ivanisevic served 10 aces as he beat U.S. Open champion Pete Sampras, 6-4, 6-4, in the final of the Manchester ** (England) Open grass-court tournament. Ivanisevic, seeded second to defending champion Sampras, needed only 44 minutes to score the victory in the final tuneup for Wimbledon. He dropped just six points on his serve, including three double faults.

* Martina Navratilova fought off Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 6-4, 6-4, for her 10th championship at the Pilkington Glass International Ladies Tennis Championships in Eastbourne, England, and the 156th singles title of her career, leaving her one behind Chris Evert's record. The top-seeded Navratilova fell behind, 4-1, in the first set to a mixture of lobs, drop shots and sharp volleys from Sanchez, but then increased her pressure at the net to win the next five games.

Former South Carolina basketball coach George Felton was released from jail early yesterday after his arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol, the South Carolina Highway Patrol said. A Highway Patrol trooper ordered Felton to pull over after the officer spotted him driving erratically on U.S. 17 in Litchfield.

* Davidson athletic director Terry Holland said he met with South Carolina officials seeking a new basketball coach, but Holland said he only gave advice on how to go about the selection process.

"If I was in a position to seriously consider a return to coaching at this point, then I would ask for an interview with the search committee," Holland, who coached Virginia for 16 seasons, said in a statement released by Davidson.

Hockey

Boston Bruins All-Star right wing Cam Neely is expected to miss training camp and could be sidelined until Christmas -- or beyond -- if suspected ossification in his left leg eventually must be removed by surgery, teammates and friends say.

Neely, fitted for a soft, removable cast in mid-May, is expected to wear the cast for up to five months, which would put its removal sometime early in the regular season. Sources say he is considering a visit to Alabama-based Dr. James Andrews, known for his work with Bo Jackson, among others, if he doesn't begin feeling better very soon.

Boxing

Mills Lane will be the referee for the rematch between Mike Tyson and Donovan "Razor" Ruddock Friday, Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Chuck Minker said. Richard Steele worked the first meeting between Tyson and Ruddock on March 18 -- a bout that ended in controversy when Steele stopped the fight with Ruddock still on his feet and gave the victory to Tyson.

Golf

Medalist Tracy Hanson of Rathdrum, Idaho, advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links Championship in Charlottesville, Va., with a 6-and-5 victory over Lisa Smego of Olympia, Wash.